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Frye Art Museum

About

The Frye Art Museum is an art museum located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The museum emphasizes painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Its holdings originate in the private collection of Charles (1858–1940) and Emma Frye. Charles, owner of a local meatpacking plant, set aside money in his will for a museum to house the Fryes' collection of 232 paintings. The Frye Art Museum opened to the public in 1952 as Seattle's first free art museum. The museum building was originally designed by Paul Thiry, although it has since been considerably altered.